my Thanksgiving table

This year, we hosted Thanksgiving in our home. We were joined by my parents, Jon's mom and aunt, and Jon's sis and her hubby. It was truly a grand time. We had plenty of time for feasting and laughing, but we also got lots of projects done.

• Jon's mom and aunt and I made these placecards and napkin rings together. The placecards use Old Olive, Really Rust, and Chocolate Chip cardstock with the Best Friends alphabet. On the back of each placecard, we stamped the pumpkin from Year After Year, and watercolored it using the Aqua Painter. The napkin rings use the Apple Cider designer series paper for the ring (only available until Nov 30) and the Thouroughly Thankful stamp set inside the scallop punch medallion.



• My dad and Jon put together 2 new bookcases by our fireplace. They look great.


• The ladies and I had a recipe swap, and we used the What's for Dinner? stamp set to make our recipe cards.


• Yesterday, Jon made shelves for our antique pantry. He cut them using his new circular saw. Fun with power tools!
  

COH Art Shop 2007

Circle of Hope is having another Art Shop this year, and I have decided to participate! There will be 75+ artists selling ceramics, hip t-shirts, handbags, photography, soaps, chocolate, and all sorts of other great goodies. I'm going to have a card-making station, and I will be selling some handmade goods as well. Right now, my plans include cards (of course), coasters, Christmas ornaments, gift tags, and who knows what else. My bro-in-law Jeff may be selling some monsters at my booth, if he gets into mass production mode. I'm also thrilled to announce that I will be sharing my booth with photographer David Difuntorum. He'll be selling some of his fabulous prints. So is there anything you're interesting in buying at the Art Shop this year? Leave a comment to let me know what you're shopping for.

The Circle of Hope Art Shop would be a great place to buy some gifts this holiday, especially if you're into supporting local artisans and buying handmade stuff. I took the Buy Handmade pledge, and I plan to give everyone on my list at least 1 homemade gift this year. I'll keep you posted on how that turns out. Are you buying handmade this year?

Pumpkin Ornament for Trim-a-Tree class

Here's another ornament I made today. It's a pumpkin lantern, made with 12 6"x1" strips of Designer Series paper. Would you like to make this ornament for your home or tree? E-mail me at events@shilohstamps.com to RSVP for the Shiloh Stamps Trim-a-Tree class.

This ornament uses the Certainly Celery designer series paper. Did you know that all the designer series papers are on sale this month? It's Buy Three, Get One free. Contact me at alison@shilohstamps.com today to place an order.

Why I Love Stampin' Classes

Since I became an SU demonstrator in May, I have attended quite a few stamping classes - Philadelphia Regionals, Fall Fest with Tina's INKredible Impressions, and Kristin's Thankful Banner class. Not to mention, we PhillyInkers stamp every time we get together. The best part about attending a stamping class is that someone else has already purchased the supplies, designed the project, and cut all the paper in advance. If I choose, I can just assemble the project. Of course, I can always make changes and modifications, but someone has already given me a framework.

On November 29+30, I am offering a Trim-a-Tree class. We will make 4 ornaments together, and you will receive chipboard to make 20 ornaments. These ornaments are super-simple to make, and they would also make fabulous gifts or gift tags. We'll be using the On Board trimmings chipboard set (from the Holiday Mini catalog), Dazzling Diamonds glitter, designer series paper, and that fabulous new elastic cord. Here's a link to some fabulous samples of chipboard ornaments that use the On Board trimmings.

As a bonus, the first person to register and mention this Stampin' Classes blog post will receive 6 sheets of holiday Designer Series paper. Materials fee for this class is $20. Contact me at events@shilohstamps.com to register ASAP.

Note: The Thankful banner pictured above uses the On Board Garland chipboard and Apple Cider designer series paper from the Holiday Mini catalog. It also uses the Wild Wasabi twill tape from the Jersey ribbon orginals set.

Designer Series Paper is on sale!

Stampin' Up has announced another great special this month - Buy 3, Get 1 free on all Designer Series Papers. I have really enjoyed using this paper for cards, 3-D projects, Christmas ornaments, scrapbooking, and all sorts of other things. If you click designer paper in my link list on the right, you'll see all the blog posts that inlcude designer series paper.

Here's a link that shows a large swatch of each of the papers.

Here's a link to some project ideas that use the Designer Series papers.

Here's a link to a list of colors that coordinate with our Designer Series Papers.

BLUYS - Stampin' for a Cause

Six stampers gathered at Amy's house tonight to make Christmas cards for friends of Brotherly Love Urban Youth Services (BLUYS). Here's Amy with the elegant (and super-simple!) card she designed using the Season of Joy stamp set. The card uses a Purely Pomegranate background, with Always Artichoke layered on top. The swirl across the tree is Encore silver ink, and the star atop the tree sparkles with Dazzling Diamonds glitter. Isn't it lovely?

We're talking about doing another Stampin' for a Cause night in January. Check the Shiloh Stamps calendar for updates soon.

Stampin' For a Cause

I've always been a do-gooder, so it's no surprise that I've been doing some charitable things with my new stamping business. In September, I hosted two Shoebox Swaps for Soldiers. We made cards for Angel Stampers for Soldiers. Now our cards are posted in their online gallery. Click here for the gallery. Type shilohstamps into the search box, and you'll see our cards.

Last week, I did a card-making class for Operation Shoebox. We made over 30 cards to send in care packages to soldiers overseas.

Tomorrow night, we'll be making Christmas cards for Brotherly Love Urban Youth Services (BLUYS). They're a youth ministry in my neighborhood. Super-stamper Amy is on their board, and she's designed a lovely card that uses the Season of Joy stamp set from the Holiday Mini collection. E-mail me at events@shilohstamps.com if you would like to participate in the Stampin' for a Cause night.

I have also used my stamping to benefit last weekend's Lupus Loop. Every person on our team (Nathan's Knights) who raised $100+ will receive some free Shiloh Stamps greeting cards. We've been walking and running the Lupus Loop for 4 years now in memory of our friend Nathan and in honor of our friend Karen. If you would like to contribute, please click my donor page.

Do you have an idea for our next Stampin' For a Cause? I'm looking for our next project to be in February sometime. I'm thinking about Keiki Cards. They send cards to terminally ill kids. What do you think?

Jon's Birthday Special - stamps at 40% off!

Jon's birthday is tomorrow, and I'm in the mood to celebrate. Stampin' Up is offering the Wishing You Cheer stamp set at 20% until November 3, and I'm going to increase the savings to 40% for my blog readers. That means the set, regularly priced at $13.95 is now $8.37. It includes 4 stamps that would be perfect for holiday cards, gift tags, and ornaments.

If you would like to order this set, please e-mail me at alison@shilohstamps.com by tomorrow. Please include "Jon's birthday special" in your subject line.